It’s been a while since I wrote my last blog. Lots of things have been happened during these pass few months. We’ve been diving with a lot of different instructors for few weeks. Paul changed the schedule for each of us to follow one instructor/ dive master every week but we need to be flexible on the diving trip. If there is no spot available anymore, we need to stay in the office and help the office about selling the diving trips and diving stuffs. We learnt many more things such as how to manage the booking, how to give briefing, how to guide, doing a little part of tune up, OWC, become the victim for the rescue diver. Well all the stuffs that we need to know when we become the instructor 😉

Let’s move forward to the next level… RESCUE DIVER! After some specialties finished and now the time for rescue book. Like always we needed to read and understood about this course. Rescue are about managing the situation before it’s become worse and dealing with it if the accident happened during the dive. Like we learnt before in EFR, we also used term of “Stop, Think and Act”. And the same thing, our safety comes first. In rescue we learnt about diving accident and overcame the situation, what we should do and the best way to take care of the situation.

Each chapter gave use more information about dealing with every diving accident. They gave us a lot of time to read, answered the quizzes and of course the knowledge reviews. After several weeks, now we all sit together in the class to talk about the quizzes and knowledge review. One day was not enough for doing the rescue course so that we split into 4 days. And you know what, they all were right. This course was the most fun course that I ever had.

The first day was all about theory.. Quizzes and knowledge reviews… we did that from 9am until 3pm from the first chapter until the fourth chapter. Our brains were overloaded so the last chapter, exam, and the pool session will be done on the next day. Holly explained all things which we didn’t understand before patiently.

The second day we did the last chapter only for 1 hour and time to do the FINAL EXAM! Some of us passed the test easily but 3 others needed to do the make up test but at the end all of us passed the test with good score. Finish about rescue diver theory, we did the pool session with Holly and Cecilie as her assistant. We did 7 skills in the pool that day.

Holly told us to do a towing a tired diver race using whatever towing which is the fastest way for warming up. Two technique to approach panic diver on the surface, and I found underwater approaching was easier than other one like Holly said the last thing the panic diver want is going under the water 😉 quick reverse was the next skill, we need to know this skill to protect us from the panic diver who chases and want to go above us. Distress diver under water- out of air, as a rescue diver we need to identify the diver who distress because they out of air and we need to give the octopus and of course take them to the surface, inflate the BCD orally. Surfacing unresponsive diver to the surface also have own technique, keep the regulator in the place (inside or outside mouth), and take the diver with the safe rate ascent.

Handling unresponsive diver on the surface is the longest skill for today because we need to keep the rhythm for giving rescue breath until we reach the boat and do the CPR. Safe the best for the last is a good word for this skill. For the last skill we need to do the exit from the water technique, we can use many techniques for this skill, it all depend on the circumstances and the size of the victim. We were carried each other to go out from the pool and that was an awesome day… It was a nice day to spend my birthday though!

The third day we did all the skills in open water with 2 more skills that we didn’t do in the pool. This time holly was assisted by Tony the new dive master trainee in Crystal. All the skills are the same with skills in the pool beside search pattern and throw a buoy. We practiced 2 search patterns that day, U pattern and expanding square. Throw a buoy also the other skill we needed to do that day. A little scenario at the end of the skill, Tony pretended to be unresponsive diver on the surface and we need to help him.

Last day of Rescue diver course and there were a scenario diving. Holly MacLeod as scenario director prepared the rescue scene for 7 of us. The victims for that day or I can say the brilliant actors were our lovely DMT Cecilie West, Mari Sasaki, Will Cooper, and Anthony Karasiewicz. This was the scenario for us, all we need to do is help and handle the situation for rescuing all of them. It was begun with seasick Cecilie, heat exhaustion Mari and tank drop injured Tony.

Time to dive!!! Some more accidents were happened under the water. Our diving was more interesting than other dive with panic Tony, Out of Air Will, and Tired Mari. Our dive was ended with two missing divers my buddy and our dive guide for that dive. We were planned the searching for the missing divers after took Mari to the boat and calmed Will down with his panic attack. We used the circle pattern for Tony and U pattern for Cecilie, with the SMB for marking where were we so we could contact each other with the snorkeler and another buddy.

Tony was found easily but Cecilie needed more time to be found. It was not end of the scenario, the missing diver turn to be responsive again on the surface and turn out we got another unresponsive diver on the surface Will and Mari. We needed to give rescue breath, towed to the boat and took the to the boat. Took Mari into the boat was much easier than took Will but we did it!

No no no still not finish yet because Cecilie jumped out of the boat follow with Will, Tony and Mari. They all were got panic and we needed to jump to safe them. Last thing Cecilie was injured by the jellyfish and Jink offered to pee on her hand because no vinegar available that time :p Now it was finish for rescue course, really really finished after some delay. WE ARE OFFICIALLY RESCUE DIVER now ^^